Google
 

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

2009 CPBL Draft Results.....

THE FIRST 5 ROUNDS ONLY
Round 1:
1)En-Yu Lin (Elephants) - formerly with the Cobras/Eagles
2)Keng-Hao Chang (Bulls) - ex-HS star
3)Chu-Kuan Lee (Bears) - played in the ABL
4)Ching-Hao Tsai (Lions)
Round 2:
1)Chi-Hao Chang (Elephants)
2)Cheng-Lung Lo (Bulls)
3)Chun-Chieh Kuo (Bears)
4)Chi-Hsiang Lin (Lions)
Round 3:
1)Wei-Chien Chen (Elephants)
2)Shao-Ying Meng (Bulls)
3)Chia-Wei Lin (Bears)
4)Yuan-Chin Chu (Lions)
Round 4:
1)Fan-Shuo Chen (Elephants)
2)Chih-Ming Chuo (Bulls)
3)Yu-Chi Hsiao (Bears)
4)Chia-Jung He (Ho) (Lions)
Round 5:
1)Chia-Ming Huang (Elephants)
2)Hsien-Hsien Yang (Bulls)
3)Hsiu-Wei Kuo (Bears)
4)Wai-Jen Cheng (Lions)

The draft had 10 full rounds followed by the 11th round where the first 3 teams picked players. Rounds 12-19 saw only the Elephants pick up a player in each round. In all, 51 players were drafted. The Lions drafted two siblings of famous players: Yu-Chieh Tseng (Sung-Wei Tseng's bro) in the 7th round and Kuo-Hua Lo (Kuo-Hui Lo's bro) in the 9th round.
Read more about the draft here.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Phillies to Sign OF CJ Lee.......


According to Taiwanese news outlets, the Philadelphia Phillies will be signing Leader University OF Chia-Jung (Rong) Lee. Lee, the #4 hitter for Leader U. will receive a comprehensive signing bonus (including tuition) of ~ $100 K. He would become the second Taiwanese player to sign with the Phils (Yen-Feng Lin was the first and is no longer with the organization).
The 21 year old does have some power; he led the Association Cup (back in November) in HR's. Here's a vid of him taking one out of the park (grand slam) in that tourney:

Vitals:
DOB: 11/3/88
H: 5'11"
W: 174
B:R/T:R
Wears # 99
*Leader U. lost today to TaiPower 3-1 in the College Cup. Performing well for TaiPower were former HS stars P Yi-Shan Deng (or Teng/8 IP, 1 R, 3 H) and SS Po-Ting Hsiao (had a few hits on the night).
*Former junior NT and Ku-Pao star RHP Keng-Hao Chang has decided that he will make himself available for the upcoming CPBL draft. He would be one of the top picks alongside En-Yu Lin.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

12/22 News and Notes....

*Rumor has it that Octagon is asking for $1 million for RHP Rong-Hao Hsieh. Hsieh touched 90 mph in a game last week.

*Ku-Pao SS Tung-Jung Wu returned home to Taiwan after having difficulty securing a scholarship to enter college in Japan.

*The Taoyuan County Aerotropolis baseball team was stripped of its Association Cup title won in November because of its association with a banned player - Chun-Chiang Kao. The team's manager Chu-Ming Lee was suspended for one year.

*The Sinon Bulls released veteran C and one time NT regular Chun-Chang Yeh. Yeh is also the CPBL players association commish. Star slugger Tai-Shan Chang (Tarzan) received a 30% cut in his salary (from 331 K NT/month > 233 K NT/month).

*The Sinon Bulls did manage to ink slugger Tsung-Chun Wu, their 4th round draft pick in '08. Wu received a 3.5 million NT (~$108 K USD) signing bonus and will make 90 K NT (~$2,800 USD) a month. Wu was the star of the '09 NT at the ABC and was also the '09 CPBL minor league HR champ.

*Chung-Dao HS, which was in danger of disbanding for economic reasons not too long ago has found two sponsors for the next 3 years. Chung-Dao finished 4th in the recently competed wood bat tourney.

*The island's international little league level tourney (Chu-Lo Cup) kicks off tomorrow. 117 teams are expected to participate in the competition with 9 teams coming from Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. A team from Kyoto, Japan won last year's tournament.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Ku-Pao.....2009 HBT Wood Bat Champs!

WBT:
Ku-Pao defeated Kao-Yuan 9-1 in 7 innings on Sunday to sweep the 2 game series (best of 3 ) and earn bragging rights as the '09 HBT Wood Bat champs.

Ku-Pao RHP starter Chun-Lung Chang held Kao-Yuan to 1 run (unearned) on 6 hits over 7 IP (5 K's, 3 BB's). The 16 year old, who was clocked at a high of 90 mph, was a member of this year's '09 youth national team. KP LF Jui-Lin Chang was 3-4 with a 2B and 2 RBI.

Kao-Yuan starter Sheng-Nan Chen wasn't so fortunate as he was shelled in his 5 innings of work (7 runs - 6 ER, 11 H, 2 K's, 3 BB's). In all fairness to Chen, he was pitching on one day of rest after throwing a CG on Friday.

UDN reported that reps/scouts from 15 MLB teams were present at the tourney.




Other:
Nice read on Che-Hsuan Lin. More news on Lin.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Kao-Yuan and Ku-Pao to play for Wood Bat Tourney Title...

WBT:
Kao-Yuan defeated Tung-Shih 7-1 in one semifinal on Friday. KY starter Sheng-Nan Chen threw a CG, allowing 1 unearned run on 1 hit over 9 IP (6 K's, 2 BB's) to pick up his 3rd win in the tourney. KY 1B Chi-Hung Hsu backed up Chen's dominating performance with a 3-3, 2B, 2 BB's, 4 RBI night.

In the other semi, Ku-Pao beat Chung-Dao 4-2. Ku-Pao SS Tung-Jung Wu is back in Taiwan after playing the previous 2 years in Japan. Wu was the star of the '04 Bronco World Series team and a member of the '07 youth NT. Wu was 2-3 with a RBI in the game.

The two finalists will face off in a best of 3 series starting today.
*Update
(Ku-Pao defeated Kao-Yuan 5-2 in G1)
(Tung-Shih defeated Chung-Dao 4-3 in 10 innings for third place)
(Shi-Yuan beat Mei-Ho 3-1 in 10 innings for 5th)
(Qiang-Shu beat Gao-Nong 5-3 for 7th)









MLB:
Fu-Lin Kuo's comprehensive signing package with the Yankees includes tuition and approaches ~$200 K combined.







Other:
RHP Wen-Hao Cheng topped out at 89 mph recently in the collegiate tourney. He is learning Japanese as he hopes to play in the NPB one day.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Another High Profile Falling Star.......

WBT:
The final 4 is taking shape in the HS Wood Bat Tourney.
Kao-Yuan is in the final 4 after a come-from-behind 7-2 win today. Inheriting a 2 run deficit, Kao-Yuan reliever Chao-Wei Yu threw 9 shutout innings, allowing only 4 hits while K'ing 12 & walking 5 batters.
Kao-Yuan received another dominating pitching performance from lefty Sheng-Nan Chen on Tuesday. Chen threw a CG 1 hit shutout (9 K's, 2 BB's) in leading his team to a 4-0 win. The '09 junior NT member was clocked at a high of 90 mph.
Also punching its own ticket to the final 4 was Tung-Shih HS. Tung-Shih was able to earn its first ever F4 appearance after defeating Mei-Ho 5-1 today. Chi-Yu Tsai picked up his 3rd win of the tourney, throwing a CG - allowing 1 run on 2 hits.
Tung-Shih and Kao-Yuan will play each other in the semifinals.
The remaining 4 teams fighting for a spot in the final 4 are:
1)Ku-Pao vs. Shi-Yuan
2)Gao-Nong vs. Chung-Dao
These 4 teams will face off tomorrow (17th).





CPBL:
One time NT star Chih-Chia Chang is no longer employed by the Bears. Read more on the topic.
So far all of the high profile names previously mentioned have come under intense scrutiny and are no longer in the CPBL. We'll have to wait and see what the deal is with Bulls slugger Chia-Hsien Hsieh.

Speaking of the Bulls, CPBL ROY/MVP Yi-Chuan Lin received a 100% raise. He'll make 220,000 NT/month (~$6,800 USD) in 2010. Fellow Bulls rookie and 10 game winner - RHP Ko-Chien Lin also received a hefty raise (110 K NT/mo in '09 > 180 K NT/mo in '10).




MLB:
There are 6 teams (3 from the NL and 3 from the AL) interested in CMW. One of those teams is the Mets.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Yen-Feng Lin Signs with the Marines....CMW and Yankees Bid Adieu.......

One time Philadelphia Phillies farmhand, RHP Yen-Feng Lin has signed with the Chiba Lotte Marines in the NPB, becoming the first Taiwanese player in history to sign with both an NPB and MLB club. Lin will receive a 10 million yen signing bonus (~ $112 K USD) with an annual salary of 2.4 million yen (~ $27 K USD). His contract includes incentive bonuses as well. He will fly to join the team in early January.





MLB:
It's time for CMW to say bye bye to the NYY.

A WTF story regarding the Dodgers/Jeff Fuller/Justin Chou and Taiwan




WBT:
4 more teams have been eliminated from the tourney. Advancing on to the next round (3) are:
1)Qiang-Shu
2)Mei-Ho
3)Ku-Pao
4)Gao-Nong
5)Kao-Yuan
6)Tung-Der
7)Tung-Shih
8)Hualien PE
9)Nan-Ying
10)Ping-Zhen
11)Chung-Dao
12)Shi-Yuan

Teams 5-12 will play on the 15th to help determine the final 8 teams.
Despite winning only one game in round 2, Nan-Ying managed to survive and advance with a 3-0 victory on Friday. Nan-Ying starter Cheng-Han Tsai was clutch as he threw a CG shutout (9 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 4 K's, 3 BB's) against Cheng-Kung HS. Tsai is a senior and is said to have a fb that tops out in the 89-90 mph range.
Another player who raised some eyebrows in the tourney was Gao-Nong LHP Cheng-Ju Hsieh. The 16 year old started and picked up a W (6 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 8 K's, 0 BB's) as he helped lead Gao-Nong to a 2-0 win over Tung-Shih Friday.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

HS Notes.....

Wood Bat Tourney:
Stage 2 Standings - through 12/9:
1)Tung-Shih 2-0
2)Hualien PE 2-0
3)Qiang-Shu 2-0
4)Mei-Ho 2-0
5)Ku-Pao 2-0
6)Kao-Yuan 1-1
7)Hua-Te 1-1
8)Shi-Yuan 1-1
9)Tung-Der 1-1
10)Chung-Dao 1-1
11)Gao-Nong 1-1
12)Ping-Zhen 0-2
13)Cheng-Kung 0-2
14)Nan-Ying 0-2
15)Hsin-She 0-2
16)Chiayi 0-2

*Traditional HS powerhouse Nan-Ying is struggling in round 2 of the WBT. Despite Tuesday's 6-3 loss, Nan-Ying RHP Chia-Hao Sung touched 89 mph in his outing. He threw 1.2 scoreless/hitless innings of relief, K'ing 3 & walking 1.



Vid of Sung from earlier this year (2/09)

*Yankees scouts Ken Su and Donny Rowland are working out former Gao-Nong star INF/DH Wei-Da Su today in Taiwan. Su was once a top prospect but has had issues with finding a defensive position. Some have also questioned his work ethic. He is now represented by Octagon (was formerly with WMG - Charlie Yang).

Monday, December 07, 2009

Yen-Feng Lin: Making the Jump from the US to Japan......

Wood Bat Tourney:
Stage 2 Results:
Sunday 12-6
1)Gao-Nong 2 - Ping-Zhen 1 (Chin-De Chang was 0-3 and was behind the plate)

2)Kao-Yuan 10 - Chiayi 3

3)Tung-Der 3 - Hsin-She 1

4)Hualien PE 8 - Nan-Ying 5





NPB:
Former Phillies farmhand Yen-Feng Lin has said in news reports that he will play in Japan next year. He is still in the process of negotiating a $$$ amount with an undisclosed NPB club at this time.

The player formerly known as Chung-Shou Yang will be working out with teammate Yu Darvish in the offseason.





MLB:
CMW News

Sunday, December 06, 2009

Reds Sign Po-Cheng Chi......


The Cincinnati Reds signed their third player from Taiwan (TK Chiu, YW Kuo), this time inking RHP Po-Cheng Chi. The sidearmer (tops out at 90 mph) received ~ $100 K signing bonus. Chi throws a slider, changeup, sinker, and split-finger fb.

Chi represented the country during the 2008 Palomino World Series. Po was linked to the Reds earlier in the year (although the article did link his teammate Hung with the wrong team; Hung ended up signing with the Pirates and not the Twins).

*Edited





Other:
*The final field of 16 kicks off today (6th) in the Wood Bat HS Tourney.







*Yi-Cheng Wang had his press announcement regarding his 3 year deal with the BayStars. There was no sign of Wen-Hao Cheng, leading one to assume that he didn't come to terms with the BayStars.



*Sinon Bulls IF Yi-Chuan Lin cleaned house at the CPBL annual awards ceremony. Not only did he win ROY honors but he became the third rookie in league history to also win league MVP honors (RHP En-Yu Lin last doubled up in 2005; P Chun-Yang Tsao first accomplished the feat in '99). He also won the RBI crown, a gold glove at 1B, and a best 9+DH award (at 1B). Lin earned 330 K NT (~$10,300 USD) in bonuses for his numerous postseason awards.


Bears sluggers CS Lin and CFC also earned best 9+DH awards at their respective positions (SS and DH).